Lehighton school officials will ask the Carbon County district attorney to bring criminal charges against Parryville tax collector Kathy Frey for defaulting on school tax payments.

School officials last night authorized solicitor William Schwab to refer the matter to District Attorney Gary Dobias.

Schwab also will order a special audit of Frey's records and notify her bonding company of the apparent default.

"Unfortunately, our business manager has run into a problem where a check for September taxes has been returned twice from the bank," Schwab said.

"Ultimately, the check was made good. (But) we have a situation where we're getting reports that taxes aren't being collected in the borough of Parryville, and that no office hours -- regular hours -- are being held at all," Schwab said.

"This is a possible criminal matter," he said.

Frey could not be reached for comment last night. A telephone call to her home was answered by her husband, Robby Frey, who said the couple was divorcing and he didn't know where his wife was.

"No one knows where to find her," borough secretary Mikki Wentz said. Wentz said Frey, who took office in January, had "been gone a couple of weeks."

"A lot of us are sitting here wondering what to do with it (school tax payments)," Wentz said.

School Director Larry Markley asked if the school district could demand that Frey step down as tax collector.

Schwab said it was "within the board's discretion to ask for a resignation, but it's not something we could tell her to do."

In other business, the board:

*Decided against increasing the height of a 3-foot-high fence surrounding a detention pond at the new high school. The borough requires 4-foot-high fences around swimming pools, and Schwab advised the board that although the pond should be fenced, the height of the fence is up to the board.

*Agreed to withhold payments of $142.38 to The Morning Call and $242 to former business manager Leonard Flank.

The board voted earlier to stop all advertising with the paper, but recently placed a classified advertisement in The Morning Call.

Flank, business manager until last year, was hired on a consulting basis by the board. Board President Richard Harleman said Flank was not being paid for expenses. The check is for mileage.